The present invention relates generally to orthopedic devices, and more particularly to orthopedic walker boots for supporting and/or immobilizing the lower limb of a wearer during activity.
Orthopedic walker boots are designed to be worn on the lower limb of a person afflicted with a lower leg, ankle, or foot injury, such as a fracture, soft tissue injury, or the like. The walker boot immobilizes and supports the injured lower limb during low-impact, weight-bearing activities such as walking and standing. The walker boot is often an effective substitute for a conventional plaster or fiberglass cast with numerous advantages. Among its advantages, walker boots are prefabricated yet are adaptable to different sized individual wearers or to variations in size of the same lower limb of a wearer over time as the lower limb is rehabilitated. In addition walker boots are more wear resistant, more comfortable to wear, and more easily cleaned than conventional casts and can be temporarily removed by the wearer for bathing, sleeping, range of motion exercise, or other non-weight-bearing activities.
Many orthopedic walker boots are known in the prior art. One such prior art orthopedic walker boot is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,128 to Grim et al. The walker boot of Grim et al. is characterized as having a soft goods-type support and a rigid frame. An injured lower limb is disposed in the soft goods-type support and the frame receives the soft goods-type support and lower limb disposed therein. In certain embodiments of Grim et al., one or more additional resilient support members can be included within the walker boot to supplement the function of the soft goods-type support. The resilient support members are inflatable bladders which are removably and/or adjustably mounted to the soft goods-type support between the support and the lower limb disposed therein. Removable and/or adjustable mounting of the bladders is effected by means of VELCRO hook and loop fasteners.
Each bladder of Grim et al. has a fill tube to which a portable squeeze pump can be selectively attached. Once the walker boot is secured to the lower limb, the practitioner accesses the fill tube of a first selected bladder of the walker boot and attaches the portable squeeze pump thereto. The practitioner squeezes the portable squeeze pump a sufficient number of times to inflate the bladder with an amount of air enabling the bladder to perform its desired support function. Once the bladder is properly inflated, the practitioner removes the portable squeeze pump from the fill tube and accesses the fill tube of the next bladder of the walker boot. The practitioner repeats this inflation procedure with respect to the next bladder and each succeeding bladder of the walker boot until all of the bladders are properly inflated. The practitioner then stores the portable squeeze pump apart from the walker boot until the practitioner desires to reinflate one or more of the bladders in the walker boot at some later time.
The present invention recognizes a need for an orthopedic walker boot having an inflatable bladder and a pump for the bladder which is integrally retained with the walker boot so that the pump is always readily available and accessible enabling inflation of the bladder whenever and/or wherever desired. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved orthopedic walker boot having an inflatable bladder and a pump which is integrally retained with the walker boot at all times. It is another object of the present invention to provide an orthopedic walker boot having an inflatable bladder and a pump which is readily accessible to the wearer or any other practitioner at all times when the walker boot is being worn on the lower limb of the wearer. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an orthopedic walker boot having an inflatable bladder and a pump which is integrally retained with the walker boot at all times yet does not substantially interfere with the desired function of the walker boot and/or impede the everyday activity of the wearer.
These objects and others are accomplished in accordance with the invention described hereafter.